Night-blooming flowers welcome you from work

If you commute or are confined indoors at work during the daytime, you can still find enjoyment in a garden.

Judith K. Mehl

If you commute or are confined indoors at work during the daytime, you can still find enjoyment in a garden.

Evening may be the best time to experience your garden, when you can appreciate the glow of the plants in the twilight.

Planning an evening garden is simple, and can be accomplished with all native plants, or a combination of natives and some of your other favorite annuals and perennials. Choose plants for their pale shades, silvery foliage, or floral perfumes that scent the air. Many plants have white or light-colored blooms that stay open in the evening and glow in the light of the moon.

An ever-popular plant that blooms early and signals the coming of a new season is white trillium (Trillium gradiflorum), with its broad, green, heart-shaped leaves and open-faced, large showy flowers.

A plant that also holds up well in an evening garden is bee blossom (Gaura lindheimeri) "Whirling Butterflies," with white flowers that resemble little butterflies, increasing along a stem and aging to a light rose. It grows 36 inches tall and blooms July through October. The swordlike foliage carries a red tinge to it.

Another hardy performer is foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia). This shorter plant (12 inches including the flower spikes) is ideal for shaded rock gardens, border fronts and naturalistic plantings. It is easily grown and sports white flowers in spring. The foliage turns bronze in the fall and winter.

Plants that add perfume are especially enjoyable in the evening. Try honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), with red-orange flowers that provide an even more powerful scent in the stillness of the late day.

Add some greenery in the form of hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). When the dazzling green fronds are broken or crushed, this enchanting scented fern gives out a pleasant fragrance. It is ideal for thoroughfares and pathways where strollers can brush against the fronds to evoke the scent. This fern thrives best in moist, acidic soil. In height, it ranges from 12 to 30 inches and augments the garden with grace and fluidity.

Intersperse these natives to the Poconos with some other favorites like hosta, with Hosta plantaginea at the top of the list. This hosta's flower is pure white rather than the purple of most hostas. Other hostas open early morning, but Hosta plataginea opens around 4 p.m., perfect for the evening garden. And it has a beautiful fragrance. If you love the purple hostas, hunt around for those with fragrance for your evening garden.

Other great additions include summer phlox (Phlox divaricata), or white swan (Echinacea). Add some appealing annuals like moonflower vine (Ipomoea alba) for romance.

Add Nicotiana, also known as flowering tobacco, which gives off a sweet smell in the evening. Keep in mind that modern hybrids stay open all day, but tend to be unscented. The unaltered species, like Nicotiana sylvestris, don't open until evening, but are beautifully fragrant.

Start with just a few natives, add more each year, supplementing with some non-natives and annuals for a delightful, easy-care evening garden.

Leaf-scented plants have the scent carriers on the leaves and do not emit any scents until they are touched. They are also called contact scented plants. The ideal position for leaf-scented plants would be somewhere that they can be brushed by the hand or foot.

Flower-scented plants release odors without any contact. Examples include garden roses and jasmine.

Some plants release odors during the day, while others only release at night. Scented plants that release scents during the daytime require plenty of warmth and light for them to produce insect-inviting smells. It is necessary for those plants to release odors during the day, as this is the only time that the pollinating insects feed.

Evening-scented plants, also known as nocturnal plants, rely on night-feeding insects to pollinate them. They normally begin emitting odor soon after sunset. They produce a sweet, heavy smell. Examples include angels' trumpets (Brugmansia), dame's violet (Hesperis matronalis) and tobacco plant (Nicotiana alata). Place these evening-scented plants in places you like relaxing after hours.

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